Den of Thieves 2 might be your most anticipated film of 2025

September 19th was a really important day for me. Exactly, the trailer for it Den of Thieves 2: Panterathe sequel to the wonderfully trashy 2018 film Den of thieveswas eventually released. As I pulled up the trailer on the largest screen I could find – my laptop – I experienced a series of intense, visceral, bone-deep reactions.

The first, of course, was “Damn, bro.” That Benihana Boys drive again. My immediate second reaction was, “Damn, it's been a while since I last thought about a trailer like this.” Aside from the classic Oscar bait trailers of the year, I'm having a hard time remembering the last one I remember when a trailer for a trashy B-crime-like crime thriller got me going.

For those who don't know – and I really feel bad for all of you –Den of thieves is director Christian Gudegast's 2018 feature film. It is a film that dares to ask the question: “What if we united?” heat, Inside the human beingAnd The city but did it really make you stupid?” And the answer to that question is, again, “Hell yeah, bro.”

The movie stars Gerard Butler, the current king – or co-king, Jason Statham, so to speak – of the action movies you didn't know has been available on video-on-demand for six months as Big Nick O'Brian, a lot An Angeles cop whose methods make him seem more like the criminals he's trying to catch than the traditional cops in such films. Butler has carved out a niche for himself that's reminiscent of the big B-tier action stars of the '90s who were just coming out of their prime – your Seagals, your Van Dammes, your Norrises. I'll just list a few of his most recent credits, and you tell me if you've seen them: 2023 Kandahar2023 Airplane2022 Last seen alive2021 Cop shop2020s Greenland. NO? You're missing something.

Join him Den of thieves is Pablo Schrieber as Ray Merrimen, a former Marine turned master thief. His heist crew includes 50 Cent and O'Shea Jackson Jr., who you may know from his father's role Straight from Compton or this type of Cocaine bear. Jackson plays Donnie, another former Marine and newcomer to the world of crime who, in the climactic and deliciously silly twist at the end of the film, was actually the mastermind all along.

Den of thieves is so indebted to the crime films of the time. Instead of the climactic diner scene in heat between Pacino and De Niro, two of the best actors of their generation, Den of thieves pits Butler and Schrieber, two of the actors of their generation, against each other in a Benihana. Here's everything you need to know about what kind of film it is. And it rules. The film ends, as I said, with the revelation that Donnie was really the mastermind all along, forcing Big Nick to track him down again after he kills Merrimen.

This brings us back to present day and I'm lying in my bed watching the incredible trailer Den of Thieves 2: Panterawhich, fantastically, seems to have retained the silly spirit of the original. Instead of another game of cat and mouse Pantera It seems to be about Big Nick breaking out of evil and joining Donnie in the world of crime. Does that make any sense? Of course not. How did Big Nick, a cop from Los Angeles, end up in this vaguely European country? Why would he abandon his mission to catch Donnie and become a criminal? Although I'm not sure if this will all be explained in the movie itself, I'm sure I won't care. That is Den of thievesfinally. Also, I know I've said it many times before, but what the hell is a “Pantera”? Should this word mean something to me? It's the perfect title for a sequel to a garbage crime thriller. Sounds cool, but makes absolutely no sense.

Pantera is also notable because it seems like we've moved the location from Los Angeles to somewhere in Europe – probably where the financing for this magnificent film came from. The scale appears larger and more magnificent. This time they're not raiding the Federal Reserve, but rather something called the World Diamond Center. What is that? I have no idea. But once again they rob the WORLD DIAMOND CENTER. Hell yeah, bro.

There's something else that really excites me because I know how bad this movie is going to be. Pantera will be released on January 10, 2025. That's right, in the middle of “Dumpuary,” the annual season of studios trying to bury their bad films in the dregs of late winter when everyone in the movie world is focused on the Oscar race. Pantera looks like it was made for “Dumpuary.” No film has been more similar to a release on January 10, 2025. For a film, it is important to know what type of film it is and what it looks like Pantera knows exactly what it is.

Which brings me back to my original question: What happened to these types of films? In the 2000s it felt like a cop vs. gangster movie like this, released every two weeks. Why aren't there more? Den of thieves?

The answer is that they still exist, you've just never heard of them because they've all been turned into streaming releases or TV shows.

There are still some of them on the big screen. Think about them Equalizer Films or any of Liam Neeson's recent releases. But open up any of the far too many streaming services and you'll see so many more. There are films I've never heard of, with stars I never knew existed. Many of them are international films and many of them were made by first-time filmmakers. In the long run, that's probably a good thing. It gives filmmakers the opportunity to make a feature film on a smaller budget without the pressure of an entire studio. It's the closest thing to Roger Corman's film school model in the '60s and '70s.

The other answer is that many of these films have become television. Think Taylor Sheridan lioness. It's exactly the kind of cheap crime thriller with movie stars that would have been released on January 10th fifteen years ago. Now it's a streaming show on Paramount+. This is worse for the film landscape. It takes some of our most talented actors and filmmakers working today and shuns them to a streaming service that no one can access.

And so, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera has somehow taken on the burden of an entire genre. When it does well, it proves that these types of films still work in theaters. I know I will be sitting on January 10th to show my support and I hope I will.